View full sizeRandy L. Rasmussen/The OregonianThe sky begins to brighten Saturday in the commercial harbor basin in Brookings where a tsunami Friday morning broke apart docks that used to extend across the harbor.

As the Port of Brookings Harbor faces the difficult task of rebuilding much of its infrastructure destroyed or damaged by Friday's tsunami surge, it does so with a balance sheet weakened by more than $5.3 million in debt and a 2008 financial crisis that it continues to feel.

The port defaulted on its debt in September 2008 after former port management poured millions into a new cold-storage plant that sat mostly idle for four years and a 20,000-square-foot retail building that sits unfinished and vacant.

Ted Fitzgerald, the port's executive director, said refinancing the debt has enabled the port to get past the worst financial squeeze. The port successfully negotiated new loan terms from the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department shortly after he joined the port.

"Today, our fiscal situation is not bad," Fitzgerald said. "We have $550,000 in the bank, and I can tell you that wasn't the case when I joined."

In Oregon

Oregon suffered tsunami damage after the devastating earthquake in Japan:

The tsunami that ripped through the port's boat basins Friday did an unknown amount of damage. Fitzgerald initially ballparked the sum at $10 million to $13 million. Other officials projected $25 million to $30 million.

Curry County commissioners voted in a special meeting Sunday to declare an emergency in the the county's three ports -- Port Orford, Gold Beach and Brookings. The declaration is the first step necessary for the area to get federal disaster assistance. County Chairman George Rhodes then left the 10-minute meeting to drive the seven hours to Salem in order to hand-deliver the declaration to Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Rhodes said the port's financial condition won't help the rebuilding effort. But he voiced confidence in Fitzgerald's leadership.

Jim Kolen, Curry County assessor, called on local residents whose boats or other private property was damaged in the tsunami to contact his office with information on the value of the damaged goods.

The Port of Brookings Harbor claims to be the busiest recreational port on the Oregon coast, generating more than 31,000 trips for more than 95,000 boaters. That's in part because the Chetco River bar is thought to be one of the safest in the state. The U.S. Coast Guard lists the port as a "harbor of refuge," with the Chetco offering on average more than 280 passable days per year.

But the user-friendly river bar wasn't enough to prevent the port from falling into financial disarray after an expansion plan gone awry. It built the cold storage plant for the local commercial fleet as a place to store its harvest. But usage of the plant has been limited. The plant lacks flash-freezing equipment, which is vital to maintain top quality. Plus, the area's last fishing processing plant shut its doors in July 2001. Fishermen grew accustomed to delivering their catches to other ports.

A 2003 federal buy-back, in which the government bought out commercial fishermen in an effort to reduce the pressure on certain fisheries, lessened the base of potential users for the cold storage plant, said Kathy Lindley, a port commissioner.

The retail building got caught up in the recession. It will cost $800,000 to finish.

By the time the port's debt topped $7 million, it fell into a cash squeeze. The port couldn't make its loan payments. Leadership changed.

Fitzgerald, a local lawyer active in the timber industry, said he agreed on an interim basis to help the port through its tight spot. That was three years ago.

The port has remained current on its debt, Fitzgerald said. The port continues to have to carefully shepherd its cash to make approximately $390,000 a year in loan payments to the state and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

It brings in between $1.8 million and $1.9 million a year in revenue. Its biggest revenue generator is not moorage fees from the 400 boats in the harbor, but its RV park, which sits on the narrow spit that separates the boat basins from the Pacific.

Lindley credited Fitzgerald with restoring order at the port, which was in chaos. Now, the tsunami has presented a full plate of new challenges.